


Rule of Three

by paintthetowngay



Category: Superstore (TV)
Genre: 3x09 AU, F/M, Friendship, Kelly finds out about the kiss, idk what to tag there's some angst and fluff, these are really short fics tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 16:06:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13838280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintthetowngay/pseuds/paintthetowngay
Summary: Happy superstore day!!Three separate short fics that I whipped up in honor of Superstore coming back with 3x13 aka JonahAmy's holy episode.1. Friendship fic- Amy learns to adapt to Jonah/Kelly; a little angst here and there; they're both jerks to each other2. Golden Globes 3x09 AU- where Jonah stays instead of leaving with Kelly to take care of a sick Amy; microwaved chicken is bad y'all3. The one where Kelly finds out about the kiss- because I'm an impatient mf; angst where Amy tries to avoid talking about the potential Jonah/Amy but fails because Jonah is persistent





	1. Friendships can be complicated too

Amy backed away from the breakroom, deciding to postpone her lunch a little. They always sat together during the short time their breaks overlapped and Jonah would say something which would keep her busy throughout lunch. Either ridiculing it or realising maybe he did have a point. But now, there’s someone else sat across the table and she can’t help but scowl.

 

She propped herself up on her elbows to watch whatever they were playing on the display television that she clearly couldn’t afford.

 

“God, I miss this movie.” A voice emerged beside her and she immediately rolled her eyes. She shifted her attention back to her half-eaten sandwich. Having lunch behind the Electronics counter wasn’t exactly what she had in mind when the day started but oh well.

 

“You know,” he said, propping himself on his elbows next to Amy, mimicking her, “eating in front of the TV is a bad habit.”

 

“Says who?” she said, taking a vexed bite of out her sandwich.

 

“Research,” he replied slowly, vary of her tone.

 

“Well, I don’t care, so.” She said with a shrug.

 

Jonah chuckled, a little nervous. “Okay, well I’m going to get back to,” he waved his hand around, vaguely pointing at a random shelf before walking away. Amy sighed, mostly at herself. She knew she was a jerk, but usually she tries not to be one. Obviously unsuccessfully today.

 

The shift finally ended and Amy’s brain kicked her into a false moment of happiness until she realised she picked up double shifts. A couple minutes later the infamous Cloud9 lovebirds exited the store and Amy watched as her hand slammed the counter glass shut a little too hard.

 

-

-

-

 

The next day, Jonah took his lunch break the same time as her but she realised he wasn’t in the break room. She went back to work and managed to spot Jonah twice around the store. It really was a slow day at the store making Amy sigh at how bored she felt. Time passed, slowly but surely. Days like this was a thousand times more tiring and she could feel herself getting crankier. She kicked around till it’s time to clock out, occupying herself with random tasks around the store. _Finally_ , she yelled internally when she glanced at her watch and saw that her shift is over.

 

But of course, nothing ever goes her way and she gets pulled into a conversation with Sandra. She made a mental note to check which zone Sandra was assigned to the next time she’s in a hurry. She finally makes it out and more than half the staff are already gone, only leaving a couple who seemed too high to notice their shift is over.

 

She walked towards her car and saw a Jonah figure standing next to it.

 

“Need a ride?” she said, fully aware that his car is parked a few spots away. It’s not exactly a joke but it’s the only thing her brain managed to muster up after being in low-gear all day. She realised he was carrying a serious-not-joking-at-all face when she finally made it near enough to actually see his face.

 

“So, there were some new shift assignments.”

 

She eyed him for a while, waiting for him to continue. He tilted his head to the side and she shrugged.

 

“Come on, Amy.” He said, and the thought finally occurred to her.

 

“Wow,” she scoffed, “yeah, I didn’t reassign anyone, maybe check with Dina. For all I know, she could be the jealous one.” She responded, ending with a sarcastic smile. Nudging him aside, she got into her car and drove away, leaving Jonah standing in the middle of an empty parking lot, confused.

 

For once, she wasn’t wrong. Dina did reassign the shifts because 3 days of watching Amy walk away from the break room was enough. Then, there is, of course, the flirting—oh god, the giggling— in _every, single, aisle_. It’s really too much for anyone to bear.

 

It didn’t even make Amy angry, it was more hurtful than infuriating that Jonah would think she’d try and sabotage his relationship. They didn’t have anything between them, and even if they did, she would like to think that she’d have more self-control than that. Or at least that Jonah would think that she did.

 

St. Louis rained throughout the night, leaving them with a very gloomy morning that made Amy groan all the way through her shower and drive to Emma’s school and work. Thank god for Emma, who was in a good mood, which brightened her day a little. She pulled up into the parking lot and saw Jonah leaning onto his car with his hands in his pocket. She sighed, unready for the day that’s awaiting her. He jumped upon seeing her arrive, opening his car door and whipping out a couple cups of coffee. By the time she got out of her car, he was already standing by her door, eyeing her profusely and somewhat apologetic. He held out a cup and she leered at him.

 

“It’s from the coffee place by the park.” He said, hoping to sound endearing enough for her to wipe that scowl off her face.

 

“I hate that place.” She said, and it was true because it’s all the way across town but mostly because of the horrible coffee they somehow manage to keep selling. He sighed, all disappointed and sad and clearly feeling very bad. Amy huffed, taking the cup in her hand as she turned towards the entrance.

 

He trailed her silently as they clocked in and dumped their belongings in the locker. The breakroom was bustling with people so Amy opted for the back of the warehouse. She sat down, letting her legs dangle off the empty loading deck. He watched her for a while before settling down next to her.

 

“Listen, I’m sorry.” She sighed and interrupted him. “It’s fine.” Her tone made it clear that she was over it. He, however, was not. “No, seriously, listen. I feel really bad, I shouldn’t have assumed and I talked to Dina and—"

 

“Jonah, seriously. It’s fine.” She interrupted him again. It wasn’t like it was the first time anyway. Of course, it was way back in high school that she got ditched for some temporary boyfriend. _Ugh, Renee._ So really, how surprised can she be.

 

Jonah sighed, completely resigned to the guilt. The guilt he felt all night after speaking to Dina. One text to her about the shift assignments and suddenly he was on the phone getting lectured. Mostly work related and how annoying his and Kelly’s PDA is but her voice changed a little when she brought up Amy. Still the same stern voice but with a tiny hint of worry, he thinks.

 

“I know you guys think there’s nothing between the two of you but come on, we all know where this is going.” Jonah opened his mouth to respond but Dina seemed to be able to read his mind. “As much as you try to deny it.” She said and he closed his mouth, listening to her intently.

 

“Whatever it is, the two of you were absolutely inseparable at work and now, well you know. It’s not news that Amy doesn’t do well with change, I mean… look at her coping with the divorce.” Dina’s casual voice started to become apparent again. “You can hook up on your own time,” she said before excusing herself and hanging up. Jonah didn’t even have a tiny gap to respond throughout the whole conversation. He contemplated texting Amy but figured she’d just roll her eyes at his text messages or straight up delete them. He wouldn’t blame her. He was big enough to admit to being an asshole.

 

Amy winced and groaned at the coffee. “Ugh, it’s worse than I remember.”

 

“Sorry,” he said and it made her roll her eyes.

 

“Just out of curiosity, what did Dina say?”

 

“A lot of things, mostly that I was a jerk.”

 

“Now that, I can agree on.” She said with a chuckle. “But I was one as well, so,” she took a deep breath, “I’m sorry too.”

 

They let their eyes meet, offering each other a soft smile for the first in a long while. Comfortable silence filled the air for a while before they went back in to join the morning meeting. The rest of the day goes pretty much normal except this time they have lunch together and make actual small talk like they used to, the way neither one of them knew they missed. The rest of the store did occasionally stand around and stare at them bringing them to the realise the degree of their fallout.

 

-

-

-

 

“So, any weekend plans?” She asked, walking next to him in the parking lot.

 

“Yeah,” he hesitated before continuing, “Kelly and I are going to this festival where they put antiques from this shipwreck during the 1950s on display. You have to dress up and everything.”

 

“Right.” Amy said. He caught the look on her face from the corner of his eyes and it tugged at his heart a little. He watched her expression change as she arrived next to her car and took a deep breath, turning to him with smile, polite and sincere. A smile that brought out a certain bitterness in him.

 

“Well, I’m happy that you found someone who’s interested in the same things you are.”

 

He cursed internally when his heart does that thing again.

 

“Thanks.” He replied dutifully.

 

It took some time for him to stop thinking about the kiss, about her, about all that they were. He was mildly thankful for the wreckage of a life he had left after the tornado because it kept him busy. Busy enough to drown out all the thoughts and feelings screaming in his head. Then seeing her everyday was weird and then weird eventually became normal and somehow, he learnt to be Jonah again. Jonah, Cloud9 employee, a friend and nothing more. He’s not weird about it, she's not weird about it. It's fine. Everything’s fine.

 


	2. 3x09 AU

“Hey, so Garrett’s going to drop Dina off and then everyone is going to P. F. Chang’s. Do you want to join?” Jonah said, just as Amy ran off to the bathroom. He grimaced at the sound of her puking. Yep, microwaved chicken will do that to you.

 

“Hey, why don’t you guys head on first and I’ll catch up. You know, just check and see if she’s okay.” He said, gesturing at the obvious situation.

 

“Yeah, okay, I’ll text you when we get there.” Kelly replied.

 

Mateo and Garrett exchanged looks before heading off to the car where Dina was groaning at them to hurry up and take her home. Kelly trailed behind them silently but excitedly, finally being part of the gang. He watched them walk away before closing the door.

 

“Hey, you okay?”

 

She waved her hand while still puking, slumped over by the toilet on her knees.

 

“Guess not.” He said, taking his jacket off and tossing it on the chair on his way to the kitchen for a warm cup of water.

 

“Here,” he squatted next to her, handing her the cup. Amy sat back on her calves with her eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed, groaning. “I’m fine.” She said and he laughed.

 

“You have puke in your hair,” he said, tugging at her hair with a tissue, “you’re clearly not fine.”

 

Amy scrunched up her face, trying to respond but nothing comes to mind. Finally, she opened her eyes and grabbed the cup, lifting it up to her mouth and then lowering it again because puke made its way back up her throat again. She bent over, hurling and Jonah shifted onto his knees, hovering over her to gather her hair.

 

“Ugh, how is this possible? I barely ate—” Another wave interrupted her and she ended up gagging a few times before falling back on her calves.

 

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to stay, you know.”

 

“Well, I can’t leave now.” He said, handing her another tissue. She took it and wiped her mouth before making a face.

 

“I think that should be it,” she said, trying to balance herself, finally standing up with Jonah’s help, “God, I need some mouthwash.” He held her lightly to the sink and all the way to the couch.

 

“Do you have any medications?”

 

“Pepto in the cabinet above the sink.”

 

“Got it.”

 

“And Vaporub in the first drawer.”

 

“It’s not a miracle drug, you know.”

 

Amy glared at him and he took it as his cue to leave. She laid down on the couch, propping her back on a pillow as her head laid on the couch arm. Her hands immediately placed itself on her stomach as she closed her eyes.

 

He fumbled around in the kitchen and she was too concentrated about the way her stomach was twisting and how lightheaded she is, to actually care. Also, she couldn’t stop thinking about how disastrous the whole evening and the disaster that is her life.

 

Jonah returned with a bunch of things and the bucket he was holding fell onto the floor, jerking her awake.

 

“Sorry,” he uttered in a soft voice, grimacing a little.

 

She sat up, leaning against the couch arm and scanned the table, now filled with a jug of water, her trustworthy Vaporub, a bunch of tissues and plastic bags.

 

“Pepto’s expired so, do you want something to eat? Or drink? Tea?” He said as he fitted the bucket with a plastic bag.

 

She closed her eyes, groaning at the dizziness. “No,” she said softly.

 

“Here, I added some honey. Supposed to help with food poisoning.”

 

She opened her eyes to him holding up a mug. “Thanks,” her voice small and meek, “Your really don’t have to stay, I can manage.”

 

“I know.” Jonah said casually. He didn’t doubt it, she is a mom after all. He shimmied, taking his phone out of his pocket before placing himself politely on the floor next to her. His phone lit up with a couple messages. Amy tried and failed to not look at his phone. She made out a name and a couple kiss emoji and her eyes rolled itself.

 

“Is that Kelly?” She inquired cautiously, coming off awkward to hide everything else she was feeling.

 

“Yeah, they couldn’t get a table so everyone’s heading home.”

 

“Wow, tonight really is a bust.” She sighed.

 

“No, come on—”

 

“Don’t.” She interrupted with a glare, making him chuckle.

 

“You’re right, this was a disaster.”

 

Amy laughed lightly, taking a sip of water.

 

They sat in silence for a bit until Amy broke it with a tiny yell. “Bucket—” She flung her legs down, almost kicking him as her hands reached for the bucket.

 

He scurried off the floor, helping her hold the bucket. She threw up a little bit more, her eyes watering at the dry-heaving she’s done all night. Jonah leaned against the couch arm as his hand patted lightly at her back. She spat and leaned against him, “God, I hate this so much,” she said in a hoarse voice.

 

“It’ll be over soon,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ear, “Do you want to go to the doctors?”

 

Amy shook her head. “I need another round of mouthwash,” she said frowning. He stood up to help but she placed a hand on him, “It’s fine, I can do this.” Jonah smiled, taking the bucket from her, carefully tying the plastic before making his way to the kitchen.

 

When, he returned to the living room and she had dropped herself back onto the couch. “Ugh, I’m exhausted.” She said, folding her legs up and simultaneously grabbing a pillow to hug. She watched as he adjusted his jeans, planning to sit down.

 

“Please don’t sit on the floor, I’m suppose to be the pitiful one right now.”

 

He froze and pressed his lips together, slowly taking a seat next to her. “You don’t look that pitiful.”

 

“Am I supposed to say ‘thank you’ to that?”

 

He chuckled. “Oh, right, TV.” He said, standing up again.

 

“Why can’t you just sit for 10 seconds?” She blurted, a little irked.

 

“Well, do you want me to fix it?” She eyed him, pausing to think for a little while before nodding.

 

Jonah picked up the basket and scanned through the unbelievable amount of remotes she had. He asked her a few questions and the sole response she had was to shake her head and offer an apologetic smile. It took a while and a lot of Googling but he figured it out in the end, only to be greeted by a fast-asleep Amy on the couch, holding onto a pillow for dear life. He smiled at the sight, quietly making his way to drape a blanket across her and finally settling into the single sofa.


	3. The one where Kelly finds out

 

“Damn it.” A voice uttered in the dark corner of the warehouse just after Amy heard a glass shatter.

 

She made her way towards the noise and saw Jonah crouched over on the floor, picking up pieces of glass. “Ouch,” he muttered under his breath when he ended up cutting himself.

 

“Where have you been? Glenn has been looking for you. Everyone‘s gone, we’re closing up.” She said, crouching down next to him.

 

Tiny bottle of neat vodka and he was absolutely red. Not drunk but tipsy enough. He figured that it’s probably a bad thing how he shifted from beer to hard liquor.

 

Amy grabbed a piece of newspaper which was laying on the shelf and helped him gather the pieces of glass, slapping his bleeding hand away. He fell back, sitting on the floor.

 

“Do you think I still have feelings for you?” His voice broke into the still air.

 

“What?” She responded, her head whipping around to face him. Her eyes tried very hard to focus on him through the uncomfortable pounding in her chest.

 

“Kelly keeps insisting on it and apparently it’s _sooo_ obvious.” He mumbled, not entirely aware of the words leaving his mouth. His brows were furrowed in confusion at himself. Words kept repeating itself in his head and he can’t shake it off.

 

_“Do you still have feeling for her?”_

_“What? No! Nothing happened.”_

_“Exactly, nothing happened. Which means you still have unresolved feelings there.”_

_“No,” he shook his head, “No.” He emphasised._

_Kelly just looked back at him, a mix pity and hurt._

_“It was one kiss! A long time ago. It was minimal compared to the other things that happened that day!”_

 

He blinked back to Amy in front of him, who quickly threw all her attention back to the floor and the shattered glass all over it.

 

“That’s crazy,” she said softly as her eyes focused so hard on picking up the pieces.

 

“Is it?” Jonah watched as she tensed up even more before continuing in a tiny, hesitant voice. “She said you do too.” She swallowed hard as her head slowly turned to meet his gaze. She looked at him in a way that made a lump build in his throat.

 

“Amy, are you in here?” Glenn popped into the warehouse, calling out to her. “Did you find Jonah?” His tone slightly higher than usual.

 

“Yeah,” she blinked a few times, “he’s here.” she responded loud enough before looking away. Quickly, she wrapped the shards of glass in the newspaper and stood up. Jonah stood up too, quickly reaching for her wrist. “Amy,” he said softly. “Glenn’s waiting.” She said tugging her hand out of his and letting her fast feet carry her out of the warehouse. Jonah sighed, emerging from behind the shelves.

 

“Oh, Jonah. There you are. We’ve been looking for you.” Glenn called out.

 

Glenn ushered him all the way to the breakroom and then left Jonah to clock out while he gathered his things and locked up the office. It doesn’t take them long to get out of the store and into the cold, empty parking lot. Jonah scanned around and was unsurprised at the absence of Amy’s car.

 

“Jonah, are you sure you’re alright to drive?” Glenn finally asked, resigned to the fact that Jonah is definitely in a horrible mood after everything that happened today. There is nothing fun about your current girlfriend finding about a kiss with a colleague you used to –or still — have feelings for. Doesn’t help that it was all on video. Jonah had spent the whole day trying to explain everything to Kelly, avoid one particular person, miserably fail at keeping it together and ended up having a panic attack and talking himself into the bad idea of drinking at work.

 

“Yeah,” Jonah replied absentmindedly. He didn’t feel all that tipsy anymore. “Yeah.” He reconfirmed it to Glenn, slowly offering a tight smile.

 

“Okay. See you tomorrow, Jonah.” Glenn offered him a smile and a pat on the back.

 

Jonah got into his car, taking a deep breath as he watched Glenn drive away. He buried his face in palms and rubbed his temples before running his hand through his hair. He still wasn’t thinking clearly and his whole head and body and heart felt like substantially heavier than it did in his entire life. He took another deep breath and this time it actually helped him make a decision, throwing his hand onto the steering wheel and then wincing at the cut and dried up blood on his finger.

 

He knocked for a third time and finally heard some noise inside Amy’s house. He went into a brief second of panic because he had no plans past this point and then Emma popped into his mind and he realised he doesn’t know if she was home with Amy or Adam. He ran out of time to think when Amy opened the door.

 

“Oh god.” Amy said out loud by accident and then sighed heavily.

 

“You’re already in bed?” He blurted at the sight of her in sweats and a messy ponytail.

 

“What do you want, Jonah?” She said bluntly.

 

“We have to talk about this.”

 

“No, we don’t.” She grumbled and spun around, walking to the kitchen, leaving him at the door.

 

“Well, we should.” He closed the door and followed her into the house.

 

Amy reached into a cabinet and searched around before pulling out a first aid kit. She slammed the cabinet shut, fully aware that he’s standing next to her, intensely staring. She glared back at him before roughly pulling his hand under running water. Jonah flinched a couple of times as she picked at the dried blood.

 

She nudged him to the chair and he sat down like a guilty schoolboy. It took her a couple of seconds to join him at the table, along with the first aid kit.

 

“Don’t you think we should at least talk about it?” He said as Amy ripped open an alcohol swab and placed it on his wound. He hissed instantaneously, unready at how a small cut can be that painful. He made a face as she applied some ointment and put on a band-aid. Figured the cut is deeper than he cared to realise.

 

She stood up to throw away the scraps and return the kit to its place. His eyes followed her around the room.

 

“Listen,” Jonah tried again but she interrupted.

 

“Don’t worry, it’s no problem at all.” Amy said casually, turning back to him. “Now, you can drive home without getting blood everywhere.” She patted him on the shoulder, which felt more like a slap, nudging him out of the chair.

 

He got up, turning toward her and didn’t budge from his position where he was towering over her.

 

Amy sighed and said, “How about this? You go home and sleep on it and I’ll sleep on it and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

 

“By talk, you mean you’re going to avoid me the whole day?”

 

“Maybe.” She said, a little guiltily.

 

“Amy,” he said, almost whining.

 

“Jonah,” she mimicked his tone.

 

He placed his hands on her shoulders. “We can’t avoid this forever.”

 

“We can try.”

 

His shoulders dropped along with his hands, frustrated and defeated.

 

“Well, I can’t.”

 

“We don’t need to talk about any of this. We have a perfectly fine relationship and you have a girlfriend, do you really need another reason.” She meant it more as a statement than a question but he goes ahead and answers it anyway.

 

“Ex-girlfriend. But Amy, I _need_ to talk about this.” His voice carried all the desperation in the world. He was sick of standing on the side-lines and waiting and yearning and lying to himself.

 

“You guys broke up?”

 

“Yeah,” he exclaimed frustratingly, “because she thinks I’m in love with you. And before that, Kristen thought the same thing which is why that ended. Then you tell me your marriage is over, then we kiss, then Adam shows up and we never talk about the kiss. And then you get a divorce and I _don’t_ know what to do here.”

 

Her eyes remained on him for a while and he watched her face freeze, startled at his words. “I’m sorry.” She blurted, blinking a couple of times. “I—” She shook her head lightly and shrugged a little, she herself unsure of what she wants to say.

 

“Come on, Amy. It must have been some sort of obvious that I liked you.”

 

She opened her mouth, looking for words but only manages, “I mean—”.

 

“And then we kissed, so I thought you felt the same way.” He paused, searching her face for something, anything. “I know— I know the timing is always off but it’s been two years, Amy, I can’t keep doing this.”

 

Amy looked at him, confused and then pitifully the same way Kelly did and he sighed, dropping himself onto the nearby chair. Her eyes followed him before finding its place on the floor.

 

“I know I owe you an explanation, but I don’t have one.” She closed her eyes, sighing. “I—I really wish I did, but I don’t.” She opened her eyes to the bright eyes staring back at her. “I don’t expect you to understand.” Her body slowly sank into the chair next to him. “Everything happened so fast that day, it’s all kind of a blur.” He nodded, furrowing his brows, letting his eyes focus on the table’s wood grain while his hand fidgeted.

 

“I don’t regret it.” She said, answering the very question in his mind. He let out a mix of a chuckle and a scoff as he closed his eyes. “But?” he said, sounding as bitter as he felt.

 

“I am sorry.”

 

She knew it wasn’t fair. The way things ended up between them. So many things left unspoken where neither one of them could find the words. He had been nothing but supportive and all she managed to do was whirl him into her crumbling mess of a life. She had no right to ask a single thing of him, not one.

 

“Look, I like you, Jonah.”

 

“I’m presuming there’s a ‘but’ here too?”

 

“I can’t get into a relationship right now.”

 

“That’s fine, I’ll wait.”

 

“That’s the thing, I don’t want you to. I don’t know when I’ll be ready, or if I’ll ever be. Heck, I haven’t even figured out the barbeque grill, or the wifi password, or whether I should eat out or cook for one when I get home. Things are so confusing right now and I can’t ask you to wait around while I figure it out.”

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

“But _I_ don’t want you to,” Jonah fidgeted, eager to speak but she doesn’t let him, “I appreciate this so much, I do, but I don’t want you to wait around like you owe it to me or that I owe it to you. I don’t want us to start out that way, I’ve done that before and it ended in a divorce.”

 

“There’s an us?”

 

“Someday, hopefully,” she said with a soft smile, “I just need this time to figure things out for myself.”

 

“Okay,” Jonah replied, “Okay, yeah.”

 

Amy reached forward, holding his hand in hers. “I am sorry, really.” He broke into a tiny smile as he looked at her, “No, it’s fine. You don’t have to be sorry.” He said, shaking his head lightly.

 

She couldn’t help but feel utterly guilty as she watched him walk away grimly. Nevertheless, it was the right decision, she thought to herself. She was determined to not screw up twice at a relationship. Especially one that meant so much to her. One that somehow managed to become more important to her day by day.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have anyone to proof-read this so let me know if there's any mistakes/typos/etc.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated though!


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